Brian Westbrook saw what Alex Smith saw. Just before a
third-down snap, two Seahawks linebackers crowded the line of
scrimmage, indicating they were about to blitz. Wordlessly,
Westbrook and Smith made the connection. The running back knew he
would have to shorten his route and look for the ball in an
instant. And when Westbrook turned, the ball was already there
— and the race was on. Westbrook made the catch in stride and
blazed through Seattle’s defense, racing 62 yards for a
touchdown.
SAN FRANCISCO
Brian Westbrook saw what Alex Smith saw. Just before a third-down snap, two Seahawks linebackers crowded the line of scrimmage, indicating they were about to blitz.
Wordlessly, Westbrook and Smith made the connection. The running back knew he would have to shorten his route and look for the ball in an instant. And when Westbrook turned, the ball was already there — and the race was on. Westbrook made the catch in stride and blazed through Seattle’s defense, racing 62 yards for a touchdown.
It was the longest touchdown catch of his career.
“Any time a team blitzes like that,” Westbrook said, “you’re not going to be able to cover everybody.”
The last of Smith’s three scoring passes showed that, at least for a day, the 49ers were on the same page. They hammered the Seahawks, 40-21, at Candlestick Park in a game that renewed their hopes for a division title.
Instead of being eliminated with a loss, the 49ers (5-8) jumped back into the thick of a very thin field. They are one game back in the NFC West with three to play. Up next: the San Diego Chargers on the road Thursday.
“Today means nothing if next week we don’t play well,” coach Mike Singletary said. “We have very little room for error, and we have to understand that.”
The 49ers beat Seattle behind the formula they’ve been waiting for all season. Smith, in his first start since Oct. 24, completed 17 of 27 passes for 255 yards and established a career high with a 130.9 passer rating. His previous high was a 120.5 against the Raiders in 2006.
Smith’s scoring passes to Westbrook, Vernon Davis (42 yards) and Josh Morgan (15 yards) made him the first 49ers quarterback with three touchdown passes in a first half since Jeff Garcia in 2002.
Smith had help from a defense that harried Seattle quarterback Matt Hasselbeck into throwing four interceptions as the 49ers avenged a 31-6 defeat in the season opener.
“We are starting to believe,” Davis said. “We know how critical it is now, when it’s right there in front of us. We just have to go get it.”
Westbrook serves as a fitting symbol for the 49ers’ hopes of going from forgotten to formidable. Squandered on the bench during the team’s early-season struggles, he got his chance only because of Frank Gore’s broken hip.
On Sunday, Westbrook led the 49ers with 87 receiving yards and caught all six passes thrown his direction. On one hand, the performance showed there still was some sizzle in those 31-year-old legs. On the other, it renewed questions about why he spent so long buried on the bench as the 49ers lost games.
Singletary called Westbrook’s slow entry into the offense “a blessing in disguise” and added: “I’m just thankful that we didn’t use Brian very much early on and let him get acclimated (and) let him understand what we’re doing. “¦ We have a better sense of what he can do.”
Asked about that assessment, Westbrook winced.
“I don’t know if it was a blessing in disguise,” he said evenly. “It was just a situation I was dealing with. Now that I’ve got my opportunity, I’m just trying to make the most of it.”
The same can be said of the 49ers, who remain mathematically alive in the postseason. They have road games remaining against the Chargers (7-6) and Rams (6-7) before their regular-season finale against Arizona (4-9) at Candlestick Park.
“It truly is a marathon,” said Smith, who is 10-1 as a starter when he has a passer rating of 95.0 or better. “What teams can ride out those ups and downs and keep the best mentality.”
The 49ers scored on their opening possession, when Smith spotted Davis crossing from right to left on a dig route. As the defender fell, Davis cruised into the end zone for a 7-0 lead. It took six plays for the 49ers to top their scoring output against Seattle in Week 1.
Davis’ play set the tone for Smith and the offense, with the 40 points marking the most ever for a 49ers team against the Seahawks. The previous high was 38 in 1988.
Davis said he saw Smith’s big day coming.
“I did. I saw it in practice,” said the tight end, who had five catches for 70 yards. “You know what they always say: ‘You practice how you play.’ I take my hat off to Alex. He did a great job.”
— Story by Daniel Brown, San Jose Mercury News
